SOUND TIGERS FALL TO P-BRUINS 3-2 IN SHOOTOUT

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (Jan. 31, 2013) -
Sound Tigers defenseman Ty Wishart scored twice, but Bruins goaltender
Niklas Svedberg made 34 saves and stopped all five Bridgeport shooters
in the shootout to give Providence a 3-2 win at Webster Bank Arena on
Thursday night. With the win, Providence improves to 23-16-0-3. The
Sound Tigers earn a point with the shootout loss as their record moves
to 19-19-2-3.

Although Providence came out of the first period with a 13-11 advantage
in shots, the Sound Tigers dictated much of the action with a strong
forecheck that kept the Bruins pinned deep in their zone for most of
the opening frame. That strong forecheck eventually paid dividends with
1:55 left in the period, when Wishart sent a low wrist shot from the
slot through a Kirill Kabanov screen past Providence goaltender Niklas
Svedberg to give the Sound Tigers a 1-0 lead.

Providence answered on the power play to tie the score with 24.1
seconds remaining in the opening period. Bruins forward Craig
Cunningham received a pass at the bottom of the left circle the Sound
Tigers zone, and fired a shot past goaltender Kevin Poulin to bring
Providence even heading into the second period.

The Sound Tigers continued to work in the Providence zone, and earned a
power play which led to their second goal. Wishart collected a pass
from John Persson, skated the puck into the slot and fired past
Svedberg for his second goal of the night to put the Sound Tigers ahead
2-1 at 13:08 of the second period.

The Bruins turned the tables in the third and held the puck deep in the
Sound Tigers zone for extended periods of time, but it was an odd-man
rush that led to Providence’s tying goal. Ryan Spooner carried the puck
deep along the left side of the zone, and Jamie Tardif deflected
Spooner’s centering feed past Poulin to even the score at two with 5:13
left in regulation.

Bridgeport earned a power play with 59.8 seconds remaining in the third
period, but were unable to score on the man-advantage in regulation or
overtime. Their best scoring chance in the extra frame came when Matt
Watkins skated in on a partial breakaway, but Svedberg made the save
and the game went to a shootout.

The bonus round went scoreless until the fifth and final round. John
Persson shot for the Sound Tigers in the first half of the round, but
was stopped by Svedberg which set the stage for Carter Camper. Camper
deked multiple times on Poulin before moving to his backhand and
finishing on the open net to give the Bruins the extra point.

The Sound Tigers will look to rebound tomorrow evening when they travel
up I-91 to Hartford to face the in-state rival Connecticut Whale at the
XL Center at 7:00 p.m.

NOTES: The Sound Tigers are 2-3 in shootouts this season, Providence is
now 6-3 in the bonus round … Matt Watkins recorded two assists in the
game … Brett Gallant fought Bobby Robins in the first period; Gallant
is third in the AHL in PIMs (174), Robins is first (211) … Jack Combs,
Nino Niederreiter, Jon Landry, Brock Nelson and John Persson all shot
in the shootout … Wishart’s two-goal game is the 12th for the Sound
Tigers this season.